This pairing matches Foursquare‘s complex 12 Year Private Cask Selection Rum with the bold & robust, Sinistro Mr. Red toro cigar.READ MORE

This instalment of our Sip & Smoke Pairings outlines the dynamic between the Cuban Romeo y Julieta Cedros Deluxe No. 3 cigar and the Japanese Matsui Single Malt Mizunara Cask whisky.

Much like all of our published pairing reviews, the highly favorable results were worthy of sharing with our beloved readers. READ MORE

This instalment of Sip & Smoke outlines the chemistry exhibited between the classic Cuban Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 cigar and The Newfoundland Distillery Co.‘s Gunpowder & Rose Rum.

THE SIP: The Newfoundland Distillery Co., Gunpowder & Rose Rum, Newfoundland Canada (40% abv)

As British sailors of centuries ago were allotted a daily amount of rum (at noon), they would routinely add gunpowder to their ration before attempting to ignite it to verify its strength in alcohol. If it would successfully ignite, it was deemed ‘navy-strength’ and worthy of swilling. If it fizzled it was merely grog.

The Newfoundland Distillery Co. give a tip of their hat to such sailors in this rum, which thankfully has no added gunpowder within it and has been imported from Jamaica prior to being tinkered with on Canadian soil to become. To add a taste of the Newfoundland terroir, The NDC source out and amalgamate local charred birch (for carbon flavor), harvested kelp (a source of sulphur) as well Newfoundland salt (for salt petre) to successfully mimic the taste of gunpowder within the rum.

In adding wild Newfoundland roses, their aim is to soften the gunpowder essence by segueing it into softer floral notes, rounded out by vanilla, pepper, blackcurrant and brown sugar to create a complex yet very approachable rum good for sipping or for being used in a cocktail.

Though the fusing of local Canadian Maritime botanicals with an aged Jamaican rum makes it technically classified as a ‘spiced rum’, it bears no resemblance to the heavily sweetened mass market varieties that often spring to mind.

THE SMOKE: Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, Havana, Cuba

The timeless Cuban robusto delivers layers of delicate fruit and floral notes along with cedar and brown sugar. A mild, yet simultaneously complex cigar that has for a long time been hit with Novices and seasoned veterans alike.

THE PAIRING:

On the nose, The Gunpowder & Rose Rum presents the toasted sweetness of browned butter, coupled with the sulphur of kelp, black pepper and a waft of floral from the wild rose.

On the palate it is sweet, with some brown sugar, black pepper, salt brine and a delicate, slightly honeyed floral finish that is long and warming.

when the cigar enters into the fold, the clean, amber-colored rum quickly takes on a magnified dark fruit character, almost like a sweet plum wine, as the floral finish takes on a newfound sweetness carried over from the fruit notes.

I almost feel as if I’m enjoying a form of cocktail.

The (v-cut) cigar opens with plenty of creamy smoke, and ushers in dry corn flake cereal, cedar and a bit of barnyard earth.

Well into the second third of the cigar, the strength and body transition into medium as the flavor becomes quite floral as result of both the common floral notes within the cigar and the wild Newfoundland rose found on the sweet finish of the rum.

Together, the Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 and The Gunpowder & Rose Rum from The Newfoundland Distillery Co. comprise a wonderful flavor combination, effectively heightening some of the wonderful fruit and floral notes that both offerings are known for.

-Kurt Bradley

This pairing matches the aged Bermudan blend of Gosling’s Old Rum with the full-flavored corona-sized Placencia 1989 Reserva.

The Sip:

Made from the same blend as Gosling’s popular Black Seal Rum, Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum is “aged until it has a well-balanced complexity”, and is believed to be aged between 16-20 years. Presented in an ornate box, the rum is encapsulated within a beautiful dark green champagne bottle and sealed with black wax – just as the rum maker did back in the 1800’s when they first began producing rum.

Each year 21,000 bottles are released.

The colour is very dark brown with a bit of red sheen. The nose brings forward plenty of oak, with additional notes of caramel, vanilla and marmite. The palate is quite dry, and produces some molasses, baking chocolate and burnt toffee with some black liquorice, tobacco and bitter orange rind. This is unquestionably a unique sip, with a bit of ‘aged funk’ not found in other rums.

The finish is medium in length and slightly bitter, with some chocolate, coffee and more liquorice.

The Smoke:

Using carefully aged and fermented tobaccos, Placencia’s 1898 Reserva features a mixture of Honduran and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos aged for at least 5 years, with binder and wrapper (Corojo) hailing from Nicaragua’s Jalapa Valley. A dark, oily and smooth maduro wrapper demonstrates solid construction throughout. Plenty of cocoa, spices and even honey are purported to jump out when smoking this full-bodied, corona-sized offering from Nestor Placencia that smells like a log of chocolate prior to ignition.

The Pairing:

Sipping the Old Rum before lighting and puffing the Reserva, the rum tastes unquestionably aged, almost as if it needs some more younger rum within the blend to balance out the slightly bitter aftertaste. Plenty of oak and cocoa are present, as well as some definite tobacco.

I get the feeling that despite the ‘drink only neat or on the rocks’ price tag, Gosling’s Old Rum would offer up as the perfect rum base to a luxurious dark and stormy cocktail.

Once lit, my Reserva 1898 produces some earth and rich cocoa which add to the rum nicely as its cocoa component becomes unquestionably heightened. I’m using a v-cut. The cedar from the Reserva marries well with the heaps of oak from the Old Rum.

The cigar begins medium in strength.

The combination of these two create a bit of a chocolate bomb at times, especially while into the second third of the cigar (aka, the heaven). The liquorice notes and slight bitterness of the Old Rum’s finish is somewhat muted by the heat and now full-bodied strength of the cigar, almost making the rum finish like an herbal, slightly medicinal digestif such as say, Fernet-Branca for example.

The experience of this rum is improved upon by the addition of this Placencia 1898 Reserva cigar. To satisfy my curiosity, I have my wife (a former bartender prior to becoming a digital advertising director) mix up a Dark and Stormy that incorporates the Old Rum – as we all know Gosling’s regular Dark Seal is the standard rum for this classic cocktail.

It turns out that my hunch proved to be quite true – Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum makes for an excellent Dark and Stormy base, as the sweetness of the ginger beer (we used Canada Dry Premium Ginger Beer) nicely balances out the slight bitterness you’ll find in this very aged, very unique rum.

The 1898 Placencia Reserva tames the aged character of the Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum, making it much more palatable and akin to a rhum agricole at times.

For a real unique experience, try to a Gosling’s Old Rum Dark & Stormy if you dare – for despite the price tag (about $80 USD) this isn’t just a ‘sip neat or on the rocks only’ kind of rum experience.

-Kurt Bradley

This pairing matches the classic scotch blend of Johnny Walker Green Label 15 yr Old with the Bevs & Burns’ Churchill-sized cigar, Spartacus.

The Sip:

Awarded 95 points in whisky expert Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, Johnnie Walker Green Label is a 15 year old blended malt comprised of single malts including Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore & Caol Ila, and can be somewhat hard to track down. Light amber in appearance and rich and robust on the palate, there are said to be notes of bonfire and coffee, with a hint of leather, that are accompanied by dark chocolate, dates, spice and plenty of oak.

The finish is long and and honeyed sweet with a touch more oak.

The Smoke:

Bevs & Burns very recent Spartacus release is a 7 x 50 Nicaraguan puro, with binder and filler tobaccos grown from Cuban seed, enveloped in an attractive, relatively smooth and slightly oily sun-grown wrapper. Medium-full bodied in strength, the smoke is proclaimed to be packed with rich spicy and nutty notes with an intermittent earthy undertone.

The Pairing:

Prior to my first sip of Green Label, I accurately cut my Spartacus with cigar scissors. The first sip immediately provide plenty of campfire smoke with a bit of moss and some espresso. My first initial draws of Spartacus tease by offering up only thin smoke via a somewhat airy draw with a bit of a grassy barnyard taste. However, within a very short period of time, Spartacus begins produce a satisfying amount of smoke, and adds some very pleasing notes of a corn flake cereal, as the barnyard begins to burn away and now begins to take on some new notes of mesquite wood, pepper and anise liquorice in between sips of the Johnnie Green.

Into the second third, the anise liquorice flavor remains and and is joined by some cocoa, roasted almond and touches of allspice. The Johnnie Green’s taste begins to evolve into including some very warming rye bread notes married with leather as well as the prominent campfire and now a more ‘smoked’ moss that is less wet earth in taste thanks to the consistent burn and heat of the Spartacus.

The Spartacus’s burn was excellent throughout and required only one quick touch up during the hour and seventeen minutes it took to smoke it. After a brief, somewhat empty start (which was relatively unsurprising given the length of the cigar), the Spartacus quickly began to produce a very satisfying, complex taste and smoke experience, and effectively added some very pleasing rye bread zest and dried out the initial subtle wet earth notes of the Johnnie Green.

An excellent pairing for either a special occasion or as a gratifying reward after a long week’s work.

-Kurt Bradley

Have you ever heard of a wine varietal called a ‘Meritage’? Shortly after I began working in the wine industry, I soon found myself becoming familiar with it both in profile and in its history.

The abridged version of the origin of this wine begins in 1985 when a group of vintners in California’s Sonoma County and Napa Valley were growing increasingly frustrated with a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives regulatory stipulation that stated that a wine must contain a minimum 75% of a specific grape to be labeled as a varietal – otherwise it would just be simply labeled as ‘Red Wine’. An potentially undesirable classification that could potentially deter a customer from choosing it.

The Californian vinters then decided to devise a new name to maneuver around this clause. The name they settled on was Meritage. The word is a portmanteau consisting of the words ‘Merit and ‘Heritage’. Just to clarify any confusion surrounding its pronunciation – as some people tend to Frenchify the word – the word “Meritage” is to rhyme with ‘Heritage’ in “American speak”.

The blend I’m having today is a Robert Mondavi Private Selection California Meritage 2014 and consists of the following varietals: Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

I’m pairing it with a classic Cuban cigar, the “54 ring gauge, Partagas Serie E No. 2.

With a wine as dry and full-bodied as this, I expected there to be some pepper notes right up front – however this one is actually silky smooth at first sip. The tannic notes I get mainly resemble the sourness of eating an unripened grape or berry; the type of sour that puckers up your lips. The oak notes of the cigar is a compliment to this particular quality of the wine, smoothing it out like a hot iron over a wrinkled shirt. The tobacco notes of the wine and the leather notes of the cigar are a match made in heaven, as both spread out evenly throughout my palate.

I expected a shift in the flavour of the wine toward the halfway point of the cigar (or at least when approaching the final third), but it remained remarkably consistent. One thing I did notice is that when holding in the draw of the cigar, exhaling slowly and then taking a sip of the wine to move it around my palate, the berry notes – instead of tasting unripened – all of a sudden have a bit of weight to to them.

Into the final third, I begin to notice that vanilla and sourdough notes in the cigar dominate after a puff or two without an immediate drink of wine afterward. However, when I drink the wine on its own without touching the cigar for a few minutes, sour berry and tobacco notes dominate the profile. Yet, when I have them in immediate succession, the vanilla in the cigar prominently stands out and the berry notes of the wine becomes now more weighted, taking on almost more of a jam-like quality.

Overall, this is a highly worthwhile pairing to try, as the Californian Mondavi and Cuban Partagas compliment each other quite well. A similar wine pairing to this cigar would be any full-bodied Bordeaux or Meritage blend. If you wished to substitute for another cigar, I would recommend either the Padrón Anniversary 1964 Maduro or quite possibly the Bolivar Belicoso, as it is another full-bodied Cuban stick with dominant notes of cream, earth, and roasted nuts that would compliment this wine profile very well.

Cheers.

-Midian Judah

For all you mild to medium-bodied cigar smokers out there, this pairing’s for you.

Fret not: in the event you cannot get your hands on this delightful little red number outside of Canada, this Pinot Noir from the Niagara Wine Region happens to bear major similarities with both the Mirassou Pinot Noir from California or the Doudet Naudin Vin de France Pinot Noir. Both options would undoubtedly also serve as a suitable companion.

The Arterra Pinot Noir is almost certifiably medium-body in strength, with dominant top notes of dark berries such as blackberries and blueberries with a hint of plum and some chocolate. It has a hint of acidity and exhibits definite mineral notes that contribute to a light tannic feel within its profile.

The Epicure No. 2 by Hoyo De Monterrey makes for great comrade with this particular Pino Noir. The sweet notes of dried fruits, a hint of cinnamon spice and milk chocolate are ever present throughout the first two thirds of the cigar while intermittently sipping upon the Arterra Pinot Noir. When enjoyed between puffs from the Hoyo, the original acidic tannic profile of the Pino Noir recedes somewhat, as it becomes balanced out by the light cedar and cashew notes from the classic Cuban stick.

A favorite of ours to pair with a morning coffee, the ever-so-versatile Hoyo de Monterray Epicure No. 2 proves here that it can make for an excellent partner with a medium-bodied red like as the Alterra Pino Noir. A wonderful find if you can manage to get your hands on a bottle, but if not, we’ve offered up two more-than-ample substitutions that also will not disappoint.

-Midian Judah

Stave & Steel Cabernet Sauvignon is a full-bodied, dry, Bourbon Barrel aged red from California exhibiting notes of stone fruits like dark cherry and plum, as well as earthy notes like, oak, vanilla, and spice. Despite its dryness, this wine is an incredibly smooth drink with the stone fruit notes at the forefront and vanilla, oak, and spice notes from aging in the bourbon barrel building up a short while after. 

The La Opulencia by My Father his mostly a Nicaraguan-tobacco cigar, enveloped in a spicy Mexican San Andres wrapper. Like the Stave & Steel, it is full-bodied in strength. It has a touch of sweetness, kind of like cardamom or star anise, as well as a sweetness redolent of cocoa or chocolate; It’s dark earthy notes like cedar, nuts, vanilla, and spice compliment the barrel aged flavours of the Cabernet Sauvignon, with such notes becoming ever more prominent with each sip of wine – especially once you are down to the bottom third of the cigar.

A wonderful marriage of two full bodied powerhouses that work up to a very robust crescendo as the glass runs dry and the cigar diminishes down to it’s final, delightful few puffs.

-Midian Judah